Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center

The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center opened in 2001. According to its own account, 'It is part of the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC) , an NGO dedicated to the memory of the fallen of the Israeli Intelligence Community.' The IIHCC appears to be the new name of the Center for Special Studies. In 2005 it was located near Gelilot, north of Tel Aviv and, according to the Washington Post 'maintains an office' at the Israeli Defense Ministry. It is headed by (Col. Ret.) Dr. Reuven Erlich. The connections with the Israeli government and the Israel lobby are close and direct and the Centre acts in effect as a transmission belt for Israeli government propaganda, as a report in the Washington Post makes clear:

An Israeli think tank with ties to the military has compiled a dossier of video and testimony accusing Lebanese guerrillas of using civilians as human shields in their summer war with Israel. The study, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, was undertaken to rebuff war crimes allegations over Israel's bombing and destruction of residential areas in Lebanon.

Israeli aircraft and artillery killed more than 850 Lebanese, most of them civilians, during the 34-day conflict with Hezbollah guerrillas. Lebanon, a U.N. human rights agency and international rights groups have accused Israel of war crimes, although no formal charges have been filed.

Hezbollah, which touched off the conflict by capturing two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid, battered northern Israel with nearly 4,000 rockets in the monthlong war, killing 39 civilians and 120 soldiers. The guerrillas were also criticized by rights groups for hitting civilians.

Israel maintains its attacks against Hezbollah targets in populated areas did not violate international law. It says Hezbollah deliberately operated within civilian areas, raising the civilian death toll.

The 300-page report, from the American Jewish Congress days before its scheduled release, seeks to bolster these claims. It includes documents, photos and video which the report says were declassified, though much of it is similar to information that has appeared on TV newscasts and the Foreign Ministry Web site.

The study, first reported in Tuesday's editions of The New York Times, was prepared by a team led by military intelligence expert Reuven Erlich, a retired lieutenant colonel who heads the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.

The private think tank has close ties with the country's military leadership and maintains an office at the Defense Ministry. It compiled the report in conjunction with lawyers from the army and Foreign Ministry.

"I think it could offer a response to allegations of human rights organizations on why the Israel Defense Forces operated in civilian areas," Erlich said.

Resources

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7672162.stm